Fishing pole eye

ABSTRACT

An eye for a fishing pole has a main body portion of a configuration complementary to the outer periphery of the pole for facilitating securing of the eye thereto, and line receiving means having an elongated arcuate opening for passing the line therethrough in a manner for securing the line to the pole with a minimum of interference between the line and the pole.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to improvements in fishing devices and moreparticularly, but not by way of limitation, to an eye for attachment toa fishing pole for securing the fishing line to the pole.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The usual fishing pole is provided with a plurality of eye membersspaced longitudinally along the pole for receiving the fishing linetherethrough in order to secure the line to the pole from the fishingreel to the outer end of the pole. The normal eye in use today comprisesa main body portion adapted to be attached or secured to the pole forsupporting an opening in spaced relation to the pole whereby the linemay be passed through the opening of each spaced eye from the fishingreel to the tip end of the pole. The portion of the fishing lineextending between adjacent pairs of the eyes usually engages the outerperiphery of the pole in two places. In addition, the line frequentlycrosses back and forth on the pole which causes a twisting action on thepole and produces undue drag and wear on the line as a fish is beingreeled in.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention contemplates a novel eye for a fishing poleparticularly designed and constructed for overcoming the foregoingdisadvantages. The novel eye element comprises a main body portionhaving an arcuate transverse configuration complementary to the outercircumference of the fishing pole for disposition thereagainst. Inaddition, a pair of oppositely disposed outwardly extending arm membersare provided on the main body portion which lie against the poleadjacent the main body in order that suitable string or other tyingmaterial may be wound around the pole and arm members for securelyretaining the eye element in position on the pole. An opening of anelongated arcuate configuration is carried by the main body portion andspaced slightly from the outer periphery of the pole for receiving thefishing line therethrough. The line receiving opening is sufficientlylong for surrounding slightly more than one half the outer circumferenceof the fishing pole. This permits the line passing through the openingto seek the optimum position therefor with respect to the pole anddirects the line in a manner wherein the only contact between the lineand the fishing pole is at one point, that point being within thedistance between the reel and the first eye. The novel fishing pole eyeelement is simple and efficient in operation and economical and durablein construction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a fishing pole having fishing eyeelement embodying the invention installed thereon.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 1, withthe fishing line being omitted for purposes of illustration.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of a fishing pole having afishing line eye embodying the invention secured thereon, with oneposition of the fishing line being shown in solid lines and anotherposition thereof being shown in broken lines.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 depicting a modified fishing eyeelement embodying the invention, with the fishing line being omitted forpurposes of illustration.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly FIGS. 2 and 3,reference character 10 generally indicates a fishing pole eye elementadapted to be installed on a fishing rod 12 for receiving a fishing line14 therethrough, as is well known. The eye element 10 comprises a mainbody or saddle portion 16 of an arcuate configuration complementary tothe circumferential configuration of the outer periphery of the fishingpole 12, and is adapted for being positioned directly thereagainst, asclearly shown in the drawings. A pair of oppositely disposed attachmentmembers 20 are integral with or suitably secured to the saddle member 16and extend outwardly therefrom for disposition against the outerperiphery of the pole 12. An arcuate eye or loop member 22 of asubstantially kidney-shaped configuration is rigidly secured to thesaddle member 16 in any well-known manner, such as by soldering, or thelike, and extends radially outwardly therefrom for receiving the line 14therethrough. As particularly shown in FIG. 2, the overall arcuatelength of the interior of the arcuate eye or loop member 22 is slightlygreater than the semi-circumferential length of the outer periphery ofthe pole 12 whereby the inner ends of the loop 22 extend around theouter periphery of the pole 12 through a slightly greater arc than halfthe circumference of the pole for a purpose as will be hereinafter setforth.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the saddle member 16 and attachment members20 are assembled from a pair of substantially identical half sections,each comprising a half-loop 24 of arcuate "planar" configuration, andhaving outwardly extending arms 26 and 28 on the opposite sides thereofwhich form the attachments 20 when the two half sections are placed inabutting positions. The two half sections are soldered or otherwiserigidly secured together to form the saddle 16. It will be apparent,however, that the saddle 16 may be of a unitary construction, ifdesired.

In order to secure the eye element 10 to the outer periphery of the pole12, the saddle 16 and attachment arms 26 and 28 may be disposed adjacentthe outer periphery of the pole, with the arms 26 and 28 extendinglongitudinally therealong as particularly shown in FIG. 3. Suitabletying cord or tying means 30 and 32 may be wound tightly around theouter periphery of the pole adjacent the saddle 16 and over the arms 26and 28, respectively, and as well known, for securing the elements 10 tothe pole 12. It is preferable that a plurality of the eye elements 10 beprovided in longitudinally spaced relation along the entire length ofthe pole 12 as shown in FIG. 1, whereby the line 14 may be passedthrough each of the loop members 22 in succession. It is also preferablethat a plurality of sizes of the saddle members 16 be provided for theeye elements 10 whereby an element 10 having a saddle of a sizecorresponding to the tapering dimensions of the pole 12 may be placed atthe proper positions therealong.

During the fishing operation, the line 14 is usually unreeled from theusual fishing reel 34 and the line 14 is pulled from the reel 34 throughthe loops 22. The pressure on the line causes the line 14 to tend tomove into a position at one end of the inner portion of the loop 22 asshown in solid lines in FIG. 3, or to the other end of the inner portionof the loop 22 as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3, in accordance withthe natural tendency of the line in response to the pressure thereon. Asa result, there will normally be only one point of engagement of theline 14 with the pole 12 as shown at 36 in FIG. 1. thus greatly reducingwear of the line 14.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a modified eye element 38 is shown whichcomprises an elongated substantially kidney-shaped arcuate loop member40 similar to the loop member 22. The opposite ends of the loop 40 arein engagement as shown at 42 to close the loop and terminate in oppositeextending attachment arms 44 and 46 similar to the arms 26 and 28. Thearcuate length of the loop 40 is substantially identical with thearcuate length of the loop 22 for the same purpose, and the arms 44 and46 may be disposed against the outer periphery of the pole 12 in thesame manner as hereinbefore set forth in connection with the arms 26 and28 and secured thereto in the same manner. The line 14 is passed throughthe loops 40 spaced along the length of the pole 12 in the same manneras hereinbefore set forth, and the line is thus secured to the pole 12in a manner for greatly reducing contact of the line with the pole 12.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present inventionprovides a novel eye element for a fishing pole particularly designedand constructed for connecting a fish line with the pole in a manner forsubstantially eliminating any interference of the eye with the fishingpole and for maintaining a minimum contact of the line with the pole toreduce wear on the line and increase the useful life thereof. The eyeelement includes a saddle member having attachment arms for securing theelement to the pole and an elongated arcuate loop member spaced from theouter periphery of the pole for receiving the line therethrough with thearcuate configuration of the loop member being particularly selected forpermitting the pressure in the line to position the line in the mostoptimum position thereof with respect to the pole.

Whereas the present invention has been described in particular relationto the drawings attached hereto, it should be understood that other andfurther modifications, apart from those shown or suggested herein may bemade within the spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An eye for a fishing pole having a fishing lineand comprising attachment means engageable with the outer periphery ofthe pole for securing the eye thereto, and elongated arcuate loop meanscarried by the attachment means, said loop means including an arcuateopening of substantially constant width through the length thereof andhaving an internal length sufficiently long to surround slightly morethan one half the circumferential distance around the outer periphery ofthe pole for receiving the fishing line therethrough, said attachmentmeans comprising an open saddle member having an arcuate configurationcomplementary to the configuration of the outer periphery of the polefor engagement therewith, oppositely disposed outwardly extending armmembers engageable with the outer periphery of the pole and extendinglongitudinally therealong, and winding means wound around the outerperiphery of the pole and the arm members for securing the eye to theouter periphery of the pole, said saddle member including a pair ofoppositely disposed substantially V-shaped elements, and said armmembers each including a pair of abutting arm members each beingintegral with the respective V-shaped element.